Automatic safety seal



Dec. 14, 1937. v PALMER 2,102,088

AUTOMATIC SAFETY SEAL Filed April 4, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 l 5 9 w a i i 7' ,20 76 %4% flTTae /E 3 Dec. 14,1937. D, PALMER 2,102,088

AUTOMATIC SAFETY SEAL I Filed April 4, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 TTOE/VEYS Patented Dec. 14, 1937 PATENT OFFICE r 7 AUTOMATIC SAFETY SEAL Guillermo Douglas Palmer, Buenos Aires, Argentina Application April 4, 1936, Serial No. 72,695

6 Claims.

This invention refers to an automatic safety seal, the object of which as its name indicates, is to provide a special arrangement whereby the seal closes automatically, it being impossible to re-open the seal without either breaking or tearing same oif.

-I consider it needless to mention the various uses and .advantages that this type of seals affords, as such uses and advantages are well known, but I desire to say that the seal forming the subject matter of the present invention, comprises excellent conditions of safety and resistence as will be clearly appreciated on perusing the following specification.

According to the invention, the sealing device of this seal is placed at one end of a strip (strip that constitutes the seal properly speaking) at one'end of which there is provided a perforation. Said device is formed, essentially, by a sliding sup- 20 port part that holds. an elastic plate to which is fixed ar pin that presses against the strip; the

strip passes between said pin and the bottom of the support part and at the said bottom, there is provided a perforation that coincides with the .25 direction of the pin. The other end of the strip carries also a hole and the object of the mentioned pin is to pass, at the same time, through the perforations at the ends of the strip and at the bottom of the box, and this will be possible when the .39 perforations come opposite the pin.

For this purpose, when superposing, and pushing the free end of the strip, the same pushes with its motion the support part that holds the pin which, as already said is spring fixed, until all the perforations (those provided at the end of the strip and those at the bottom of the support part) register with each other; at this moment the pin is forced through them by the action of the spring, fastening them together and it will then be 'impossible to separate the parts as the device is conveniently and perfectly enclosed within a cap jorthe like, tightly. closed. 1

For the purpose that the invention be clearly understood and easily carried into practice, the same has been illustrated according to some preferred forms of construction in the drawings that accompany the present specification. I These drawings represent in 59 Figure 1, a lengthwise cut view of the sealing devicein the open position and on an enlarged scale, V

Figure 2 illustrates a cross cut view of same ltakenonzthe line a--b of Figure 1,

5 5 Figure ii shows the lower part of the same dearrow e.

vicein the open position, illustrating 'how the free end of the strip is inserted in place, 7

Figure 4 is a view similar to that of Figure 1, in the sealing position, that is to say, when the support part is extended and the pin has passed 5 the perforations,

Figure 5 shows a cut view taken on the line c-d of Figure 4,

Figure 6 is a view similar to that of Figure 3, in the closed position,

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the device corresponding to the former figures,

-Figure 8 is a perspective view of a modified construction of the device, designed following the same idea,

Figure 9 is a view of the bottom part of the device shown in the former figure,

Figure 10 illustrates how the sealing device is fixed inside the outer cover which is tightly closed, and

Fig. 11 is a view of the sealing embodiment closed as it appears in use.

Similar reference characters designate the same or equivalent parts on all the figures.

Referring now to the drawings, character 4! designates the strip which is overturned at its end as at 2. The said end is provided with perforations 3 and 4. At this point is placed the support part that is provided with two side projections 5 and a bottom portion 6 having a hole 1. The side projections 5 carry corresponding cuts 8 for passing therethrough the ends of an elastic plate 9 to which is secured a pin lil. This elastic plate presses pin l0 continuously against the strip.

In the position indicated-in Figure 1 and in Figure 2, the pin will be in an elevated position as it cannot traverse the perforations 3, 4 and 'l as they are out of register the one with the others. It is necessary, on the other hand, for the 40 sealing, for the pin to catch the other free end of the same strip. For this purpose, the other and of the strip H is also provided with a perforation l2 and is pushed through the space provided between the end I and the bent part 2, pushing it forward in the direction shown by the Besides, the free end I l is provided with corresponding cuts l3 intended to strike against the edges of part I4 of the support part (see Figures 3 and 7) so that when it moves forward, it will push the support part and with it the elastic plate 9 and its pin l0, until it reaches the position in which perforations 3 and 4 of one end, perforation l2 of the other end and perforation l of the bottom part register; the pin then, forced by the 5 spring, passes through all the perforations as shown in Figures 4, 5 and 6, the device becoming thus sealed.

The position of perforation I2 is previously determined relative to the projections I3, so that it will assume a position in alignment with perforation i, when the projections l3 engage the edges I i.

This arrangement of projections I3 to contact with the edges IQ for the purpose of moving the support part, can be replaced by another construction illustrated in Figures 8 and 9. In this case the strip does not carry cuts of any kind and its end II penetrates the space formed between the end I and its folded or bent part 2 as in the former case, until its end I5 strikes against a vertical stop I6 bent upwardly from the body portion 6. On its movement forward, the end I I of the strip moves the said support part until the perforations come to register, same as hereinbefore explained, and the pin passes through, thus fixing the elements in the sealing position. With the use of the modified construction, the tip of end I2 must be sectioned as shown, for providing a free space I "I for permitting the movement of stop IS.

The device formed by the combination of the foregoing elements is enclosed in a cap I8 as seen in Figures 10 and 11, perfectly closed and that presents only a cut or slot IQ for permitting the passage of the strip ends; one of these (the one No. I2) is secured within the cap with the aid of a hook 20 (Figures 1 and 7) while the other end II is passed when the sealing of the seal device is required; it presents then, the position illustrated in Figure 11.

It is evident that various modifications may be introduced in the construction and details without departing from the scope of the present invention, which will be more fully and clearly set forth in the appended claims that follow:

I claim:

1. A locking seal comprising in combination with a member to be locked having an aperture, a closed casing having a slot in one end, a pair of spaced guides in said casing, registering apertures in each of said spaced guides, a locking member forming a sleeve around'said spaced guides and slidable thereover, a pin resiliently mounted in said sleeve and bearing against the surface of one of said spaced guides when the seal is in unlocked condition, said pin being adapted to snap into said apertures when in registry therewith and means for automatically bringing said pin in registry with said apertures when the member to be locked is inserted through said slot and when the aperture of said latter member is in registry with said first mentioned apertures.

2. A locking seal comprising a closed casing having a slot in one end, a strap having one end bent upon itself to form spaced guides firmly attached within said casing, registering. apertures in each member of said bent portion, a locking member forming a sleeve around said bent portion and slidable thereover, a pin resiliently mounted in said sleeve and bearing against the surface of one of the members of said bent portion when the seal is in unlocked condition, said pin being adapted to snap into said apertures when in registry therewith, the normally free end of said strap being adapted to be inserted through said slot and between said spaced guides and provided with an aperture, and means for automatically bringing said latter aperture and said pin in registry with said first mentioned apertures as the normally free end of the strap is being in-' serted, whereby said pin will snap into engagement with all of said apertures resulting in the locking of the device.

3. A locking seal comprising in combination with a member to be locked having an aperture, a closed casing having a slot in one end, a pair of spaced guides in said casing, registering apertures in each of said spaced guides, a locking member forming a sleeve around said spaced guides and slidable thereover, said sleeve comprising a bottom plate having upright side walls, a longitudinal slot in each of said side walls substantially horizontal with said spaced guides, a

spring member inserted in said slots, said spring member having a projecting pin, said spring member being arched when the seal is in unlocked condition whereby said pin will bear against the surface of one of said guides; and means for automatically bringing said pin in registry with said apertures when the member to be locked is inserted through said slot and when the aperture of said latter member is in registry with the apertures of the spaced guides.

4. A locking seal comprising a closed casing having a slot in one end, a strap having one end bent upon itself to form spaced guides firmly attached within said casing, a locking member forming a sleeve around said bent portion and slidable thereover, said locking member comprising a bottom plate having upright side walls, a longitudinal slot in each of said side walls substan tially horizontal with said spaced guides, a spring member inserted in said slots, said spring member having a projecting pin, an aperture in said bottom plate in registry with said pin, said spring member being arched when the seal is in unlocked condition whereby said pin will bear against the surface of one of the members of said bent portion and whereby the pin will snap into said apertures when in registry therewith; the normally free end of said strap being adapted tobe inserted between the members of said bent portion and provided with an aperture, and means bent upon itself to form spaced guides firmly attached within said casing, registering apertures in each member of said bent portion, a locking member forming a sleeve around said bent portion and slidable thereover, said locking member comprising a bottom plate having upright side walls, a longitudinal slot in each of said side walls substantially horizontal with said spaced guides, a spring member inserted in said slots, said spring member having a projecting pin,

an aperture in said bottom plate in registry with said pin, said spring member being arched when the seal is in unlocked condition whereby said pin will bear against the surface of one of the members of said bent portion whereby the pin will snap into said apertures when in registry therewith; the normally free end of said strap being adapted to be inserted between the members of said bent portion and provided with an aperture, and a pair of opposing shoulders, said opposing shoulders being so arranged that they will abut against said upright walls after said normally free end has been inserted a predetermined distance between said spaced guides whereby further insertion will push said locking memher until all of said apertures and said pin are in registry when said pin will snap into engagement therewith resulting in the locking of the device.

6. A locking seal comprising in combination with a member to be locked having an aperture, a pair of spaced guides, v registering apertures in each of said spaced guides, a locking member forming a sleeve about said spaced guides and slidable thereover, a pin resiliently mounted in said sleeve and normally bearing against the surface of one of said spaced guides when the seal is in unlocked condition, whereby said pin will snap into said apertures when in registry therewith, and means for automatically bringing said pin in registry with said apertures when the member to be locked is inserted between said spaced guides and when the aperture of said apertures.

GUILLERMO DOUGLAS PALMER. 

